Saturday, May 31, 2008

TMZ just caught up with Shaniqua Tompkins as she got back to her house — or what’s left of it after this morning’s big blaze — and 50 Cent’s ex-shawty went OFF!

As Shaniqua Tompkins, the mother of 50 Cent’s son Marquise, returned to the burned down home after she was hospitolized from the fire, she spoke with reporters. Tompkins made many statements to the press. When a reporter asked her if she thinks 50 could have done something like setting the fire, she said “yes I think he would, he’s obsessed and if he can’t have something, no one can.” Shaniqua went on to say that 50 said he was going to have someone come kill her and to ‘watch what he does’. Tomkins went on to say that 50 has made no attempt to see how his son is after the fire.

Tomkins told TMZ that she heard “someone” come into the house this morning at 4 AM, shortly before the fire broke out around an hour later. Her lawyer, Paul Catsandonis, said that his client is “traumatized” by the fire and that the kids are similarly in total shock. Six people, including Tompkins and their 10-year-old son Marquise, were in the house. They all were transported to the hospital and treated for smoke inhalation.

50 Cent’s lawyer Brett Kimmel released the following statement to TMZ:

“Any suggestion that Mr. Jackson had anything whatsoever to do with the fire at his home is outrageous and offensive.”

Shaniqua Tompkins, Fiddy’s baby mama, went NUTS this morning, suggesting the rapper had something to do with the blaze.

Summer busts out all over

Oslo was set to be one of the warmest cities in Europe this weekend, with temperatures exceeding those in Barcelona and Madrid. Sun-starved Norwegians were already flocking outdoors even before the weekend got underway.

These brave young women jumped into the Oslo Fjord, as Oslo warmed up for a sunny weekend.

PHOTO: CARL MARTIN NORDBY

Local parks and even beaches along the fjord were full of folks soaking up the rays, cautiously dipping into still relatively chilly waters or just diving on in.

Hilde Holdhus of Storm Weather Center predicted that temperatures could rise to as high as 27C (nearly 85F) during the weekend in the interior areas of southeastern Norway.

By comparison, the forecast for London and Paris was 21C, Amsterdam 19C, Barcelona 18C and Madrid 17.

Norway's summer weather was linked to a high pressure system combined with warm air coming from Africa. It was also due to bring temperatures elsewhere in Europe up to as high as 29 in Berlin, 26 in Vienna and 28 in Athens. It's not often that Oslo is as warm as Athens at this time of year.

The weekend also got off to a good start in northern Norway, with balmy temperatures in Nordland County of around 20C.

Even though some rain was predicted for northern and western Norway, temperatures were expected to stay in the low 20s.

Folks longing for a swim were testing the waters of the Oslo Fjord, and braving water temperatures of about 13-15C (not more than 60F).

Police swept down on the offices of building contractor Harald Langemyhr on Friday, arresting four of his employees and charging the company with massive fraud against the city of Oslo. Langemyhr was also recently accused of badly exploiting Polish construction workers.

Building contractor Harald Langemyhr has incurred the wrath of his workers and public officials, for allegedly enriching himself at their expense.

Langemyhr himself wasn't at his office in Tønsberg when police arrived. A warrant is out for arrest, and he faces the same charges as his other workers.

They're suspected of over-billing the city of Oslo for as much as NOK 28 million (USD 5.6 million) in connection with construction jobs they had secured.

They're charged with defrauding the city of NOK 17.6 million through overbilling and attempting to defraud the city for another NOK 10 million for work on a nursing home project in Oslo, according to prosecutor Frank Jensen.

Such serious fraud is punishable with up to nine years in prison. The four who were taken into custody are both Norwegian and foreign citizens.

Earlier this year, police and labour authorities raided Langemyhr's building sites, including construction of the Økern Nursing Home in Oslo. Not only did the authorities uncover numerous violations of labour regulations, including poor working conditions and underpayment of foreign workers, but also indications of over-billing.

"When the labour authorities found unworthy working conditions and social dumping, it was natural that we investigate the project's economy," said city official Merete Agerbak-Jensen, adding that the city already had concerns before the building site was raided.

Langemyhr was said to be on holiday abroad and unaware of the charges against him. A spokesman for Langemyhr said police know where he is, though, and that Langemyhr would cooperate with the authorities.

Once again the lights were dimmed in the courtroom and we watched portions of the video that prosecutors say is R. Kelly having sex with a girl as young as 13.

But testimony wasn't focused on the identity of the people doing sexual acts. Forensic video specialists spent hours - and I mean long hours - talking in techno-speak about the inner-workings of videotapes. (I'll spare everyone.) I really wish I had a Dave Chappelle Wrap-It-Up box.

The experts were an FBI video specialist and a man based in Washington state who the prosecutors hired.

In short, they said the tape is authentic. It's been copied many times but the people on there are real, they said. It's not fabricated, they insisted. At least in part because of the technology. The video is on a VHS tape and was partially made with a hand-held camcorder. It's low quality.

The defense argued that the tape could've been altered digitally and transferred back on a VHS tape.

One of the forensic experts said he saw a spot that resembled a mole on the back of the man on the tape. Last week and today pictures of Kelly's shirtless back were shown, and there is a prominent mole. The defense has said that there is no mole on the man on the tape. They seemed blown away when this witness said he saw a mole on the grainy video.

The education system is set for a major overhaul following the appointment by the Government of a team of 11 experts to review the existing 13-year-old policy, which, it´s generally agreed, is outdated and cannot meet the country´s needs.

The deputy minister for Education and Vocational Training, Ms Mwantumu Mahiza, announced in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the group of experts had been chosen to collect views from the public on the kind of education system the country should adopt.

Ms Mahiza said the team would be expected to present its recommendations by December.A retired Permanent Secretary for Education and Labour, Mr Abubakar Rajab, has been named as the consultant to lead the experts to be drawn from various institutions in the public and private sectors.

The silver dirhem, minted in Iran, is one of the earliest examples of coins to turn up in the Nordic countries.

Several other hordes in the area have contained similar coins, but none date back as far as this. The previous finds have been 100-150 years younger.

According to Houshang Khazaei, a researcher at the University of Oslo, the coin was minted in Mohammadiyyah in Iran. The ruler at the time was Harun al-Rashid, the fifth and most famous of the Abbasid caliphs.

For several hundred years dirhems were minted in countries in North Africa and the Middle East. They were used in Europe too, much like the US dollar or the euro today, and likely came to Norway with Viking traders.

The dirhem contains about three grams of silver. Payment was made by weight rather than according to the denomination on the coin. Therefore many were cut in half or into quarters to make small

Crucial Point in the R. Kelly Trial

The bombshell witness in the R. Kelly trial -– a woman who claims she had a three-way with R. and the alleged victim – was due to testify yesterday.

The defense is clearly rattled – they tried to force her removal from the witness list completely, but the judge nixed that. The woman, who lives in Georgia, is expected to ID the girl on the tape and to verify that she was a minor at the time.

On Tuesday, R. KELLY’s former personal assistant has identified the star as the man in the sex tape at the centre of his child pornography trial - and admitted she knows the alleged underage victim.

Lindsey Perryman told the jury at the Chicago, Illinois courthouse on Tuesday (27May08) that she was “110 per cent” sure Kelly appeared in the tape. She also identified the girl in the video, insisting she was between 13 and 14 years old at the time the explicit footage was recorded.

Perryman claims the alleged victim regularly visited Kelly at his recording studio, and on one occasion turned up with a pillow and an overnight bag.

She told the court: “I did not want to believe it was Mr Kelly (in the tape).

“I think so highly of him and his family, they have been so good to me. He treated me and the people who worked for him well.”

However, Bennie Edwards Jr., a relative of the alleged victim, confessed he was unable to identify the people in the video.

He said: “It favoured Mr Kelly, but you only saw the bottom half of a goatee.”

Asked if he could identify the female as his family member, he replied: “No. It’s not her character.”

Kelly stands accused of videotaping himself having sex with a 13-year-old girl, and could face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty. He denies the charges.

A retirement benefits package

to dream of:

Why Mkapa didn’t have

to do business at Ikulu:

THISDAY REPORTERDar es Salaam

FORMER President Benjamin Mkapa (photo above) is already guaranteed a comfortable life after retirement, courtesy of taxpayers’ money, according to legislation that he himself assented to while at State House.

The current Political Service Retirement Benefits Act, passed by the National Assembly in 2000, spells out a generous package of retirement perks for the former president, including an annual pension granted monthly of a sum equal to 80 per cent of the salary of incumbent President Jakaya Kikwete.

Jakaya Kikwete appoints

seven women judges

By Polycarp Machira

President Jakaya Kikwete yesterday appointed 11 judges of the High Court of Tanzania, seven of them women.

According to the directorate of communications in the President´s office in Dar es Salaam yesterday, the Chief Secretary, Mr Philemon Luhanjo, said the appointments became effective from May 24, this year.

Norwegians are now paying as much as NOK 14 a litre for the lowest grades of unleaded gasoline (just over USD 11 a gallon). While that reflects record high oil prices, Norway's traditionally high fuel taxes are also a major component.

The policy has always been aimed at discouraging use of private cars. The problem for many Norwegians, especially those living in rural areas, is that public transit isn't always a viable option. And many motorists who depend on their cars are feeling the strain. So is the transport industry, which has warned of bankruptcies because of its higher fuel costs.

That hasn't stopped Halvorsen, head of the Socialist Left party (SV), from rejecting recent pleas to lower fuel taxes because of high oil prices. Instead, she's moving forward with higher taxes that are expected to boost prices at the pump to at least NOK 15 per litre (USD 12 a gallon). Some market analysts think fuel prices will hit NOK 17 by year-end.

That set off a grass-roots protest earlier this week, which Halvorsen is ignoring. She claims that fuel taxes are "a relatively small" portion of Norwegians' overall tax burden, suggesting that most can afford them.

Asked by newspaper Aftenposten whether oil-producing Norway should rank as having Europe's most expensive fuel, Halvorsen claimed that it wasn't, given Norway's higher standard of living and income levels.

The Progress Party, Norway's most conservative, is the only political party in parliament calling for lower fuel taxes. It also has attracted the most support in recent public opinion polls.

Both the parties and the thousands who've organized grass-roots protests against the bill also worry that independent Christian schools will lose their state funding if they continue to teach that marriage is between partners of the opposite sex.

This creates the unusual political alliance, since KrF usually avoids close co-operation with FrP, despite both belonging to the non-socialist bloc in parliament. Both parties reject the new legislation in favour of keeping the existing law.

Both parties are quick to emphasize that they are against discrimination of homosexuals and that they support measures which strengthen the rights of the children of same-sex couples.

The bill was to come up in Parliament on Thursday. Norway's left-centre coalition government has a majority in parliament, so the bill seemed assured of passing when it eventually comes up for a vote.

Fewer young Norwegians are choosing higher education, as high wages lure them to work.

Stian Aune chose to work in a clothing store and earn some money instead of continuing to study.

PHOTO: DAG W GRUNDSETH

Statistics show a 4.5 per cent fall since 2006 in the number of students currently enrolled at colleges and universities. That amounts to a net loss of about 6,500 students in just two years.

A booming labour market in Norway is proving far more attractive to increasing numbers of young Norwegians than working on long and expensive degrees.

Stian Aune, for example, said he started studying at a local business college in Oslo but opted to work in a clothing store instead. "Education is fine, but it's just as important to get some work experience," Aune told newspaper Aftenposten.

Education officials cite various reasons for the trend. The labour market, for example, is extremely good even for work with low skill requirements.

Students also are unwilling to embark on long courses even when employment is certain upon graduation. The high cost of student loans in a country where parents aren't expected to support their student offspring will carry 6.2 percent interest rates from July.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Researchers at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) have developed a method to identify bromadiolone poisoning in humans. Bromadiolone is a rat poison that can be purchased freely in shops. A number of cases have been reported internationally where people have been poisoned, with a mortality rate of 20 percent.

Blood-thinning substances have been used for many years as rodenticides. Warfarin was previously used but due to resistance development, the so-called super-warfarins were introduced. These substances are 100 times as potent as warfarin.

A commonly used super-warfarin is bromadiolone (sold as the brand name Temus in Norway). Few laboratories have been able to prove the presence of bromadiolone in human samples and little is known what happens to the substance in the human body.

Now researchers at the NIPH have developed an analysis method to spot the presence of bromadiolone. The cause of serious bleeding disturbances in a female patient was investigated during a recent poisoning case. It appeared that the woman had been exposed to blood-thinning substances. Blood samples uncovered that she had been repeatedly exposed to bromadiolone.

The researchers discovered that bromadiolone is present in blood for a much shorter time than expected. The concentration of bromadiolone is higher in blood plasma than in whole blood, which is important to note when samples in different media are interpreted. After storage of the blood samples in the freezer at -20 degrees Celsius, followed by thawing for reanalysis, the concentration of bromadiolone fell over time.

In order to treat bleeding disorders, the cause of the patient’s condition must be identified as soon as possible. When poisoning with blood-thinning substances is suspected, an analysis method that can identify the superwarfarin bromadiolone, plus other superwarfarins and blood-thinning substances, is now available.

Kanye West did lose his mother back in November of 2007 after complications arrose from a tummy tuck job. Since then the plastic surgeon (Dr. Jan Adams) who operated on Kanyes mom, Dr. Donda West, has been blasted including being in trouble with the Medical Board of California due to DUI cases plus it becoming public that he had judgments against him for malpractice.

Now something good may come of all of this. Yolanda Anderson, the niece of Donda and cousin to Kanye, teamed up with California Assembly woman Wilmer Amina Carter to submit a bill that would require a physical before any patient is approved for cosmetic surgery. Donda’s death has also spurred other bills currently in legislatures in Florida, Canada and elsewhere.

Will Tanzanians get

those ID cards?

Adam LusekesoDaily News; Wednesday, May 28

I GATHER that national identity cards will be ready by the end of December 2009. Plaudits will applaud. I don't. For once, the whole thing will cost 182 billion/-. Now such huge figures of money is a magnet for unsavoury characters like the ones who stole 133 billions of EPA monies.

Coordinator for the project, Dickson Maimu, has said that the tender is open to any company qualified to do the job adding: "I urge companies to compete for the tender, and I assure everybody that the tender process will be free, fair and transparent to all, provided the identity are ready in time."

Knowing Bongo, the tender might have already been awarded to one of the top officials in some party or government.

Is Mkapa really a mere

government pensioner?

-Questions still abound over his failure to address the real issues at hand

THISDAY REPORTERDar es Salaam

VARIOUS political commentators have reacted strongly to former president Benjamin Mkapa’s attempt to depict himself as a mere pensioner surviving on government retirement benefits at a public rally in his home village in Masasi District, Mtwara Region over the weekend.

It was the ex-president’s first and much-awaited formal public response to serious allegations of corruption and abuse of office that have shadowed him for approximately one full year now.

But according to the commentators, Mkapa failed to adequately explain to Tanzanians why he chose to conduct private business dealings while still at State House, or his dubious involvement in the private ownership of the formerly state-run Kiwira coal mine.

Mkapa is said to have left several questions unanswered as he blamed the allegations against him mainly on ’’disgruntled’’ individuals with a personal grudge against him - apparently because he refused to favour them during his 10-year presidency from 1995 to 2005.

Annual report and Facts

and

figures 2007 published

The English versions of the annual report and Facts and figures from UDI are now published.

The annual report 2007 describes the year that has passed in the UDI with extensive texts and material from the whole organisation, while Facts and figures 2007 completes the picture with more detailed facts and numbers.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

NetCom wins iPhone deal

Telecoms giant Telia Sonera has secured a deal to be the exclusive distributor of Apple's iPhone in Scandinavia, the Baltic countries and Finland. That means they'll be sold and operated in Norway by NetCom, Telia Sonera's local unit.

There already are lots of iPhones in Norway, despite Apple's attempts to control their sales and operation.

PHOTO: PAUL SAKUMA/AP

Norwegian telecoms firm Telenor apparently lost the bidding for the iPhone, and NetCom will be alone in selling the iPhone and the conventional subscriptions to make it work in Norway.

TeliaSonera wouldn't reveal any details about how it secured the deal with Apple, what the iPhones will cost or even when they finally will be available.

"We think it's exciting to get to launch the iPhone in the Nordic countries and the Baltic," a TeliaSonera official told news service E24. "Beyond that, I unfortunately can't say anything."

The iPhone now costs around USD 400 in the US, equal to about NOK 2,000 at current exchange rates. They're likely to carry much higher pricetags in Norway, though, like most everything else.

Thousands of eager Norwegian fans of Apple products already have bought iPhones in the US, brought them home to Norway and figured out how to make them work. That may cut into NetCom's core market.

There's no settlement in sight for a strike by more than 3,000 teachers, day care center workers and some health care workers and municipal employees scattered around Norway. Both sides are digging in their heels.

"We'll keep this going as long as we have to," vowed the leader of the teachers' group, Helge Hjetland.

She and Unio leader Anders Folkestad said it was "out of the question" to soften their demands for higher pay until the public sector employers group KS puts a better offer on the table.

That won't happen, responds KS, claiming it has no more money to offer. While most public sector labour organizations accepted pay hikes of just over 6 percent, Unio did not and is demanding more. Hjetland has fended off criticism, even from within some labour groups, that Unio's decision to go ahead with a strike on their own makes their campaign for higher pay especially difficult.

The strike is forcing some parents to take their small children to work with them, and interfering with year-end exams for many students. An estimated 30,000 Norwegians have been inconvenienced in some way by the strike so far.

More may feel the effects later this week, when the unions threaten to put more of their members on strike. Another 4,900 public sectors may walk off the job on Friday. That would bring the total of striking workers to about 8,100, of whom 6,600 will be teachers.

Johannesburg - South African President Thabo Mbeki was expected in Japan on Tuesday, even as aid agencies warned that the crisis at home sparked by the wave of violence against foreigners was far from over.

Mbeki, was due in Japan for a two-day conference on African development, the foreign ministry announced.

He has come under pressure for what critics say has been his slow reaction to the anti-immigrant violence that has left 56 dead and 35 000 displaced.

And while the government was claiming on Monday it had brought the two weeks of violence under control, aid groups warned of the health and logistical problems caused by the mass exodus of migrants fleeing the country.

Three years after 52 mine workers are supposed to have been buried alive in a gold mine area in Tanzania, the Norwegian contractor Noremco was assigned the task of participating in the construction of the controversial mine works on the area that had been brutally cleared. Noremco says its role in the mine was limited.

Fifty-two small-scale mine workers were, according to a Tanzanian lawyers’ organization, buried alive when a Canadian company, together with the Tanzanian authorities, in 1996 filled the entrances to the mines they were working in. The area was then to be reorganized as a commercial operation.

One of the companies that participated in the construction of the mine works was the Norwegian company Noremco with headquarters in Tanzania. Noremco constructed all concrete foundations at the mine. This emerges from Noremco’s own web site.

Look at what you started Oprah! When you make millions of dollars a movie and you want a good education for your children, what do you do? Buy a school. Will Smith proves that parents really "just don't understand."NPR News & Notessay the man in black threw down $889,000 to lease a California high school for his two young children.

Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, have been home schooling their brood until now. According toPeople...

"We started home-schooling our children probably six years ago," he said.

"We found about eight or nine other parents that home-school, so we put them together.... There's just very powerful educational concepts that we believe in, and we feel like 'I want to design the system that revolutionizes public education.' "

Hey, who can blame him? Have you ever met a parent who is thrilled with their child's public school system?

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